Gaming

Oh disco elysium for sure. Fantastic crpg.

I would say Hades.
The gameplay loop, the art direction and the story are all very good.

Disco Elysium blew me away with the writing, absolutely a must-play.

Subnautica. One of the best experiences I've had in gaming.

Outer Wilds. One of the most creative and thought-provoking games I've played. Definitely go into this one knowing as little as possible about it.

Hollow Knight also deserves a spot here, but personally I preferred Salt and Sanctuary.

There is this little hidden gem called The Witcher 3.

Ok, real answer: To the Moon and Doki Doki Literature Club are two indies that really left a mark on me, specially the former. Both games are fantastic.

Valheim - especially if you fork out for a dedicated server. I was playing with family and friends across the Atlanic, so we'd log on the next day and find new bases and bridges built, etc.

I just wish you could modify and expand the boats!

Airships: Conquer the Skies - a great little 2D airship builder and combat game

Songs of Syx - a fun city builder even if combat is largely unfinished still

FTL, Into the Breach, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Banished

The Return of the Obra Dinn.

Stardew Valley

Not posted here yet: Hades. Though, all of Supergiant’s games are worth playing.

Chained Echoes (Asian RPG light). Hollow Knight (Dark Souls in 2D). Gloomwood (Thief-gameplay). Project Zomboid (anything Zombie).

The games that stuck with me are (in no special order) Paradise Killer, Sable, Disco Elysium, Gris and of course What remains of Edith Finch.

Hades, though I don't know if it's a must-play for everyone. I like it a lot and is probably my most-played game on the Steam Deck.

I usually only play the large bombast blockbuster titles, but Actual Sunshine did leave me speechless.

My partner and I loved playing Plate Up! We've also played Overcooked 1 & 2, but spent more time playing Plate Up!.

Subnautica

Tunic

The Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2 (I've convinced 0 people to try these)

I'm not sure what the cutoff is for indie these days, but I think the Ori games are perfect.

Gris. Gorgeous visuals and stress-free gameplay

Not incredibly long either

Celeste took much of my time, even though I'm usually not a big fan of this genre. Stray was pretty interesting for me as a fan of cyberpunk culture. Plague Tale was a breath of fresh air

Not posted here yet: Hades. Though, all of Supergiant's games are worth playing.

Factorio with a friend. (Alone is still good)

I usually play indie stuff. It feels more like a labor of love than big, corporate AAA titles. That said, the only two must haves, Imo, are Omori and Dwarf Fortress. Neither game is perfect, but they are both incredible, unique experiences. With Dwarf Fortress, enter with plenty of prior knowledge, but with Omori, play it blind. Very important for both games.

Factorio has been my crack-torio for many years. Satisfactory may have better graphics, but I prefer the simplicity and depth of Factorio.

Gone Home.

Celeste.

Most of Pokemon fan games (my boyfriend loves fangames)

There are a lot I'd recommend, but I think the only must-play for me is Cave Story.

When I was growing up, Cave Story was like the paragon of games as art, and was a major inspiration behind me making games as a hobby and getting into software development professionally. Cave Story was made by a single talented auteur, not for profit, and released for free. And it was as good as Metroid and Mario, or maybe even better. It proved to everyone that such a thing was even possible.

I think the only indie game that could possibly compete with Cave Story for the title of "most influential" would be Minecraft. Though Minecraft should probably be disqualified from that title for having sold out to Microsoft as soon as it started to get big...